Literal translation
Eat your fish now while it's fresh, marry your daughter now while she's young.
Meaning
eat your fish while it's fresh, marry your daughter while she's young
Explanation
This proverb draws a parallel between two things whose value fades with time: fish, the perishable good par excellence, and a marriageable daughter, whose matrimonial value, in the traditional society that produced this saying, was tied to youth. The repeated construction manjo, marido, each followed by aro qu'es, now that it is, underscores the urgency of acting at the right moment, before the opportunity spoils or passes. The saying belongs to a widespread strain of rural wisdom: seize the moment without delaying out of caution or comfort. Its pairing of fish and marriage, dated today in its view of marrying off daughters, should be read as the reflection of a particular era and family economy, where marrying a daughter early answered social and material logics of the time. It is used in familiar register to recommend not delaying in the face of a fleeting opportunity.